Russia's ambassador to Germany Vladimir Grinin

BERLIN, May 5. /TASS/. Celebrations marking 70 years since Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two can help to improve relations between Russia and Western countries, Russia's ambassador to Germany Vladimir Grinin said on Tuesday.

"Memory of that tragedy and those horrors has always been and will always be able to do its part - to deter from losing control of developments and rolling into the abyss again," Grinin told TASS, noting the need to treasure historical memory and raise public awareness that "things like this should never happen again".

Grinin said Germany hosts many events timed for the 70th anniversary of victory. "We have received about one hundred invitations," he said, adding that many of them were scheduled to take place on May 8 and 9, and mostly in Germany’s eastern states.

"We are trying to give a positive response to all such invitations as far as possible of course," he added.